So listen up, ladies and gentlemen. Wake up and smell the reality. Stop your bitching, moaning and complaining. Look at where we are:

Polls show the Democratic base is unmotivated to turnout in 2010-- and it's no wonder given all the rhetoric that Obama hasn't done much with his 2008 victory. Those attacks from the rightwing are understandable from a partisan position, but many progressives seem to oddly be aping similar rhetoric-- wallowing in glass half-empty complaints of what Obama and Congress haven't delivered while failing to actually educate the public on the successes they have. We should be able to demand more while publicly praising what we do achieve -- basic political walking and chewing gum at the same time -- but a lot of progressives seem not to have mastered the skill.

Maybe it helps that I had such low expectations of Obama's administration to begin with-- but then I thought significant federal reforms would fail due to the filibuster. So the progress actually made is a pleasant surprise. And those successes are large and profound. This post will summarize those gains, and even in summary form will be quite long, reflecting the incredible victories involved. Yes, we all wish for more, but the best way to get there is to educate the public -- and especially the progressive base -- about what we got in the last year and how replacing moderates and conservatives with more real progressives could deliver even more in the future.

Quick Summary of 2009 Progressive Victories (more explanation below)

Three major health bills (SCHIP, tobacco regulation, and stimulus funds for Medicaid, COBRA subsidies, health information technology and the National Institutes of Health) enacted even before comprehensive reform

Stimulus contained myriad other individual policy victories, not only preventing a far worse depression but also:

Delivered key new funds for education

Expanded state energy conservation programs and new transit programs

Added new smart grid investments

Funded high-speed Internet broadband programs

Extended unemployment insurance for up to 99 weeks for the unemployed and modernizing state UI programs to cover more of the unemployed

Made large new investments in the safety net, from food stamps (SNAP) to affordable housing to child care

Clean cars victory to take gas mileage requirements to 35mpg

Protection of 2 million acres of land against oil and gas drilling and other development

Making it easier for airline and railway workers to unionize, while appointing NLRB and other labor officials who will strengthen freedom to form unions

Reversing Bush ban on funding overseas family planning clinics

Passing hate crimes protections for gays and lesbians

Protecting stem cell research research

Strengthening state authority and restricting federal preemption to protect state consumer, environmental and labor laws

Financial reforms to protect homeowners and credit card holders

Bailing out the auto industry and protecting unionized retirees and workers

Go to the link for further detail.

Now, you may dislike some of the items on that list. You may not think the list is long enough, or strong enough, or progressive. But seriously, people, are you really upset enough you'd rather return to the good ol' days of right-wing rule? What, exactly, was so good about the Bush years that you care for a repeat?

And are a few progressive disappointments really enough to make you forget just who, exactly, left the economy in shambles?

Get the fuck over your disappointment. Push for more progress, yes. Demand more, yes. But do not fuck yourselves out of all chance of progress by giving up and letting the Cons win.

Perhaps most importantly, do not make me take the Smack-o-Matic to your very own asses. Because trust me, I will. And I've added a special spike attachment for despondent Dems who can't be bothered to get off their arses and fight the good fight just because they didn't get every little thing they wanted.

Politics is rough, tough and full of disappointments, my darlings. Toughen up, get the fuck used to it, get out there, and get better Dems elected.

2 comments:

The Democrats have done nothing but screw up where it really counted. You can spend all day listing other things they've done right, and it won't change that. They've done nothing to fix the bank problem, while spending trillions to keep the things afloat, kept the Bush-era rendering regime in place and protected the torturers, and they've boned us on health care.

If recent signs are any indication, the stimulus bill may have just delayed the depression, rather than prevented it.

Anyone who isn't rich and is looking at what the Democrats have done to make his economic future better ought to be pretty unimpressed so far. Saying it could have been worse doesn't seem like much of a consolation.

I don't for a moment suggest that people should not vote. Unfortunately, many will not, and the Democrats really have to accept some of the blame for how little they've actually accomplished.